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Egypt have secured their spot in the round of 16 of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations with a narrow 1-0 victory over Sudan in the final matchday of the group-stages.
Following a defeat to Nigeria in the opening game, Egypt put their AFCON campaign back on track with a tough victory over Guinea-Bissau, thanks to Mohamed Salah’s winner.
Sitting second on the group, the Pharaohs knew that a win would confirm their spot in the knockout rounds, while a draw could still be enough if Guinea-Bissau fail to beat Nigeria.
Looking for nothing but the win, Carlos Queiroz made just one change to his starting XI as Mohamed Abdelmonem replaced the injured Mahmoud Hamdy El-Wensh.
Egypt XI: Mohamed El-Shennawy, Omar Kamal, Ahmed Hegazi, Mohamed Abdelmonem, Ayman Ashraf; Amr El-Sulya, Mohamed Elneny, Abdallah El-Said; Omar Marmoush, Mohamed Salah, Mostafa Mohamed.
Sudan XI: Mohamed Mustafa, Mustafa Alfadni, Elsadig Hassan, Mustafa Karshoum, Mazin Mohamedein; Mohamed Al Rashed, Walieldin Khedr, Dhiya Mahjoub, Muhamed Zurga, Abdel Raouf, Mohamed Abdel Rahman.
The Pharaohs looked dangerous from the start and created several chances through Mohamed Salah, Abdallah El-Said, Mostafa Mohamed, and Mohamed Elneny.
However, the first clear-cut chance came in the 32nd minute when a corner taken by Abdallah El-Said was met by a powerful header by Mostafa Mohamed, but the Galatasaray striker was denied with a diving save by the keeper.
In the 36th minute, another corner was taken by Abdallah El-Said and this time it found defender Mohamed Abdelmoniem, whose header on the edge of the six-yard box found the back of the net.
The goal marked Abdelmoniem’s first international goal in his only fifth game for Egypt as the 22-year-old starting to establish himself as one of the country’s best defenders.
The Pharaohs had another chance to add their second of the game, but goalkeeper Mohamed Mustafa kept parrying the shots away and denied an impressive strike from Abdallah El-Said.
At half-time, Sudan made three substitutions, including the bringing on of backup keeper Ali Aboueshrin for Mohamed Mustafa as the latter picked up an injury.
Meanwhile, Egypt continued its dominance and could have scored through a long-range effort from Amr El-Sulya; however, his effort got deflected to corner.
In the 56th minute, Carlos Queiroz made his first substitution of the game as he brought on Zizo for Abdallah El-Said.
Egypt then had two clear-cut chances to score, the first came from Mohamed Salah, who toyed with the defenders before his shot was stopped by the keeper. Minutes later, the Liverpool man received a ball from Omar Marmoush before bringing the ball down to Amr El-Sulya, whose powerful strike went just inches over.
Omar Marmoush, who fell down after a strong challenge, was then brought off for Mahmoud Trezeguet in the 66th minute.
Sudan had then their most dangerous chance of the game, when a free-kick from just outside of the box was parried away by El-Shennawy, before the follow-up from very close range was once again saved by the Egyptian keeper.
Carlos Queiroz has then made his final substitutions as he brought on Marwan Hamdi and Hamdi Fathi for Amr El-Sulya and Mostafa Mohamed in the 83rd minute.
Mohamed Salah had a couple of runs in the final minutes, trying to confirm the win, but couldn’t get past the Sudanese defence as the game eventually finished in a win for Egypt.
In the other game, Nigeria continued their great run of form as they beat Guinea-Bissau 2-0 with the goals coming from Almeria’s Umar Sadiq and Watford defender William Troost-Ekong.
The results mean that Nigeria have finished the group-stages with a perfect record of three wins out of three and will face the third-placed team from groups E or F.
Meanwhile, Egypt remain second with six points and will be up against Group E runner-ups, which could be either of the four teams in that group, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Sierra Leone, or Algeria.
While Sudan managed to finish in third place ahead of Guinea-Bissau on goals scored, their one point is not enough for them to make it through among the four best third-placed teams.
The two results also have secured a place in the round of 16 for five teams. The first of these five are Cape Verde and Malawi, who had finished third in their groups with four points.
Joining them are Gambia, Mali, and Ivory Coast, who even if they lose their last games and finish third, their record of four points will be enough for them to qualify.
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